After a couple of changes, this is our new family favorite! Subbed beef broth (about 2-2 1/2 cups) for the water/bouillon combo and used 15 oz. can tomato sauce/14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes instead of the 28 oz. can crushed simply because that's what I had on hand. Cooked for 8 hours on low, then the Crock-Pot switched to 2 hours on warm until we were ready to eat. Absolutely delish! I will make this again and again, I'm sure.
One thing to note; if you don't like basil, cut to 1/2 tablespoon. The basil/pepper seasoning was very noticeable and gave it quite a bit of a kick, but still not too strong for my kids to eat.

Reviewer:

After reading the reviews I decided to use 5 bouillon cubes and left the salt out. After four hours of cooking I sampled and it lacked taste. I added the additional 5 bouillon cubes uncrushed. I’m so glad I did. This turned out great it wasn’t over salty.

Reviewer:

EXCELLENT!! But you canNOT include all that salt. I'm convinced it's a type-o. Bouillon is normally one cup of water to one bouillon cube. I added 3 cups of water and 3 bouillon cubes and a PINCH of salt (not a Tbsp!!). It was soooo good on this cold fall night!

Reviewer:

I like this recipe BUT the amount of black pepper in the recipe makes the soup not edible. Especially for kids. I will try this again but with 1/4 to 1/3 of the pepper and check seasoning at the end of cooking. When I remake this the rating could change. I gave the beef pieces a quick browning before adding to the pot which enhanced flavor and tenderness a bit.

Reviewer:

This was delicious! Even my husband who is not a big soup fan literally licked his bowl clean. I gave it 4 stars though because like previous reviewers,I halved the bouillion. I also used extra potatoes and fresh carrots for the veggies.

Reviewer:

This is surprisingly good! I made this exactly as directed with the only exception being I cut the salt back to 1 tsp. It was impressive. The flavor was great with just enough spicy bite to it to impress my husband. This is a keeper. Next time I may increase the stew meat a bit to keep my picky husbands interest.

Reviewer:

This was so easy to make; I threw everything together right before leaving for work and dropping off two young children at school. Just got home from work and it tastes awesome! Also made Pillsbury french loaf with it - perfect fall dinner.

Reviewer:

This was a wonderful meal with a stew-like consistency. I didn't have the beef bouillon at home so just seasoned the meat well with seasoned salt, black pepper, and minced garlic. It was delicious! I gave 4 instead of 5 stars because I can't imagine how salty this would have been with 10 bouillon cubes.